Our Story

THE STORY OF SAM BOARDMAN AND HIS TWO BARRELS

 

Sam Boardman wasn’t just the first state parks superintendent in Oregon—he’s known as the guy who made the state park system what it is today. He also founded the town of Boardman, OR. In 1903, Sam and his wife, Anna Belle, made the move from Colorado to Eastern Oregon, and it was on a train ride across the Columbia River that Sam thought, "This desert could really use some water."

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For the next 13 years, while waiting for water to arrive (it didn’t show up until 1916), Sam took on engineering gigs. Anna Belle taught school. Sam even set up a tree nursery at the school, and got schools in nearby towns like Irrigon and Umatilla to plant trees on Arbor Day. At one point, Sam and the kids hauled 500 trees to Wasco to plant in their schoolyard. Sam was also a fan of the Ailanthus tree, and was key in spreading Russian olive trees around the area.

 

Oh, and Sam’s truck? He called it his “Hoopie,” and it was loaded with two barrels of water so he could water trees with a bucket as he went.

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Sam’s passion for the land caught the attention of Governor I. L. Paterson, who named him Oregon’s first State Park Superintendent. Between 1929 and 1950, Sam added more than 50,000 acres to the state park system. In 1950, Samuel H. Boardman State Park was named in his honor, just a few miles north of Brookings on the southern coast of Oregon.